Van Empel wins the Besançon World Cup, Vos fifth on return

NOS Cycling•today, 2:38 PM•Amended today, 2:57 PM

Fem van Empel has won the Besançon World Cup. On the slippery course in France, the cyclocross rider rode away from the rest in the first lap. Marianne Vos, who made her return, finished fifth.

With her victory, Van Empel comes closer to classification leader Lucinda Brand in the World Cup. Brand finished second in Besançon, meaning the gap is now 46 points between the two riders.

“Actually everything went according to plan,” Van Empel said after the finish. “It was a smooth course, so it was nice to be in the lead, because then you can drive your own lines. My condition is good, but I hope it can be even better.”

Far behind Van Empel, Vos made a good impression in Besançon. The eight-time world champion in this discipline did not race for almost two years after she underwent surgery on her femoral artery just before the 2023/24 season.

In her first race of this season, she had to start far from behind, but she quickly made up ground on the wide French meadows. After one lap she was already in the top ten and was able to start the hunt for the top of the race.

“That felt good,” Vos reflected afterwards. “You never know what to expect in advance, especially not on such a tough round, but I was very happy with how I progressed.”

One by one she passed the other riders and in the penultimate lap she even rode into the top five. However, the stage was too far away.

Already in the opening phase it became clear that Van Empel was out of his depth today. Brand and the Hungarian Blanka Vas stayed close to the world champion the longest, but ultimately had to give up a lot of time.

Everywhere they went, Van Empel had already been a minute earlier. The young rider rode confidently to the finish and crossed the finish line with a big smile on her face, more than half a minute ahead of Brand, who limited the damage in the rankings. Vas came third, Vos had to settle for fifth place.

View the top ten in Besançon and the standings in the World Cup rankings below: